Martha Plimpton Isn’t the Only Duane Reade Hater

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So now we know that Martha Plimpton hates Duane Reade. She’s not the only one, of course, and, as it turns out, there’s now a blog — why wouldn’t there be a blog? — devoted to chronicling the horrors of the drugstore chain that’s eating New York. I Hate Duane Reade launched in February and encourages reader to share their tales of woe. The first post meditated on the one-line-or-several debate; since then the site has included “Overheard in DR” posts (“Teenage girl shaking her fist: ‘Fuck you Duane Reade! Gah!’ –76th& Broadway”), numerous pharmacy horror stories, and April’s sort of genius taxonomy of your standard Duane Reade employees. (A sample: “Photo Guy — He’s there. He’s just standing there. He knows you want him to say ‘cash only’ and invite you up. Nope. He’s photo guy. Don’t mess.”) “After way too many bar sessions filled with rants about customer service, specifically the DR,” the founders wrote on the site, “we decided to vent our frustrations in prose … and sometimes haiku.” Here’s a try: Martha Plimpton stews / While filling a prescription / “You have a Club Card?” —Katie Hintz